Letter to the Editor: 52 student leaders endorse Sky and Em

Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like.

Email This Story

Send email to this addressEnter Your NameAdd a comment hereVerification

We, as current and former student leaders at Northwestern, endorse Sky Patterson and Emily Ash for president and executive vice president of the student body.

We know that students are tired of Associated Student Government making vague promises to enact reforms and to promote equity across this campus. These pledges end up being nothing more than a ploy to receive votes. We want an end to this cycle of empty words.

That is why we are writing today to support the candidacy of Sky and Emily. From our experiences in leadership, we recognize that amplifying all students’ voices and giving them real choices in their NU experience cannot come from changing the bureaucratic intricacies of ASG, but from harnessing the resources and funds of NU and giving them to all students — regardless of their identities, backgrounds and experiences. Sky and Emily understand this and have demonstrated their ability to serve students time and time again.

This past year, Sky played an instrumental role in expanding the Books for Cats program to allow more students access to free textbooks, publishing NU’s first resource guide for creating gender-inclusive spaces and ensuring that a surplus of $10,000 in ASG funds went toward the Activities Scholarship Fund, which provides funding for low-income students to participate in campus life. Emily spearheaded the Improve NU Challenge, which gave students the opportunity to pitch their ideas directly to administrators and allocated over $12,000 to implement winning projects. Their records demonstrate their commitment to equity and real change, as well as their ability to uplift students’ voices and build broad coalitions.

We believe that Sky and Emily are the only candidates who have the experience, capacity and vision to turn their promises into action and ensure that ASG and NU work first and foremost for students.

They know that it’s time to correct the obscene cost of education for low-income and first-generation students. It’s time to build a campus that accepts students of all gender identities equally. It’s time to end discrimination in the classroom against marginalized students. It’s time to divest from gun manufacturers and build a University that doesn’t profit off of death. It’s time for students to be Unafraid to live and learn on this campus.